


American Boys In London

by natthecatty (Scottish_Nxte)



Category: Glee
Genre: London, M/M, Not Blaine or Klaine Friendly, Romance, Work or Play
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26470471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scottish_Nxte/pseuds/natthecatty
Summary: Kurt Hummel travels to London as part of an exchange programme at NYADA. Upon his arrival, a familiar face from the past greets him. Little does Kurt know, he will have many difficult decisions to make that will affect his future...GLEE AUBETWEEN SEASON 5 AND SEASON 6ANTI KLAINE
Relationships: Kurt Hummel/Chandler Kiehl
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

Outside of a lavish brownstone building in the Greenwich Village in Southern Manhattan, a tired looking Kurt Hummel walks up the stairs and into the apartment. He had had a long day at Vogue. Now he wanted nothing more than to relax with his roommates.

Kurt walked into the room and found Mercedes and Elliott standing over the stove while Mercedes made some homemade pizza. 

Mercedes greets him with a smile and a hug. “Hey, Kurt. How was work today?” Mercedes turned back to her pizza and continued rolling out the dough.

Kurt flopped down onto the couch and kicked off his shoes and put his bag next to him. “Urgh, it was awful. First of all we learned that we are going to be visited by Anna Wintour… TOMORROW. So Isabelle needs me to come in extra early to finish off the final preparations. I’ve never seen her so stressed out.”

Elliott walked over to sit on the armrest. He took Kurt’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You still enjoy working there right, hun? You only have a few weeks before you return back to NYADA.”

Kurt got a bit excited when he heard the mention of NYADA. This year wasn’t just any ordinary junior year, he was going abroad to study in London! No Round Room performances or Cassandra July to put up with in London. “I’m not going to be in NYADA at all. That’s why I’m so excited for this Junior year, I’m going over to study in London.”

Mercedes stopped kneading and she and Elliott both went to sit with Kurt. “I’m really going to miss you, we all will. You better keep in touch while you are away or I will come to London and personally find you.” Mercedes chuckled and walked back into the kitchen.

“Why don’t we all relax tonight? Put work out of our minds.” Elliott spoke with a gentle tone and a smile. “Mercedes is making us some pizza, we should watch TV and enjoy it.” Elliott remembered something. “Oh! Sam won’t be back tonight. He has a late night shoot and is crashing with one of the other models.”

“I hope it goes well for him, his career is taking off.” Kurt was happy for Sam. He really deserves a big breakthrough like this, he had been through a lot. “Ooh, Rachel’s show premieres tonight. I kinda want to watch it to see if it was worth quitting NYADA and bailing on Funny Girl for.”

Mercedes shook her head. “I canNOT believe Rachel decided to give all her dreams up. She talked about Funny Girl near enough on a daily basis in Glee Club. She tries so hard to get into NYADA, even going as far as stalking Carmen Tibideaux and she gives all that up? She got greedy. Really greedy.” Mercedes sat down on the couch next to Kurt. “My record deal didn’t take off initially. Now I’m thriving. She talked all this crap about dreams coming true. Her dream came true and she blew it.”

Kurt looked at his phone. “Has Rachel actually spoken to any of you guys since she moved away to go do her television show. She hasn’t spoken to me in months and she’s pretty much gone inactive on social media.” Kurt opened up Facebook Messenger. “I got a text from Brittany. Oh, apparently Lord Tubbington has gone into cat prison after trying to smuggle cocaine into Peru.”

Mercedes looked up. “Is she sure that Lord Tubbington isn’t just at the vet?”

Elliott looked confused at that text. He had met Brittany once, but that was it. He didn’t know her very well. “Who is Lord Tubbington?”

Kurt put his phone away. “Oh sweet little Elliott, you are so uneducated.” Kurt said these words with a hint of teasing. “Lord Tubbington is Brittany’s cat that acts like a human. It can read, send vicious emails. Sam got hate emails from Lord Tubbington once.” Kurt looked up at Elliott. He was being completely serious.

Elliott started laughing. “I’ve got to meet this cat. I’ve met Brittany once but that was a very brief meeting. I thought Artie was staying in New York too?”

“Oh he is. But he’s living on campus at his film school. He’s still worried about taking the Metro on his own now that Rachel has jumped ship. Brittany was staying in New York, but instead she went out on an extended vacation with Santana.” Kurt said this while putting his things away in the proper places. 

……………..

Later on that night, Kurt, Mercedes and Elliott sat on the couch waiting for “That’s so Rachel” to start playing. They had just finished the pepperoni, ham, cheese and pepper pizza that Mercedes had made herself.

Kurt finished his crusts and spoke to her Mercedes, “Oh my god ‘Cedes, that was so good. Best pizza I’ve had in ages.”

Elliott nodded in agreement, Mercedes pretended to be bashful and taken aback by the compliments. “Thank you guys, I’ll send y’all the recipe after the show.”

On the screen, the opening to “That’s so Rachel” started playing. The trio sat down with smiling faces initially, which then turned to horror and complete cringe-worthiness.  
“Is that the script that got sent off to the network or was it that script that the crazy writer wrote at first?” Mercedes asked this with a sense of confusion.

“That’s meant to be me. My god. What sort of show did they make.. Rachel, what have you done to yourself…” Kurt said with a sigh and looked over at Elliott whose mouth was agape at the mess that was on screen before them.

Elliott spoke again with a tone that showed he really hated it. “Rachel gave up everything… for this? She gave up her dream show and quit NYADA to be the star in this god-awful television show?”

Kurt spoke next. “She did. Stupid decision. She could’ve had it all. Instead she chose to quit Funny Girl and NYADA to do a stupid television show. It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s gone into hiding because of how bad the end result was.”

The television show came to an end and everybody's mouths were open with complete and utter shock. The television show they had just witnessed was a tragedy to humanity. Nobody had ever seen anything that bad in the history of television. The names, the characters, the storyline, the “jokes”. It was wrong on every single level. They all knew that a show like that would not go down well.

“Well. That was certainly something.” Kurt took out his phone and began looking at Twitter with the hashtag #thatssorachel. “Uh guys. Twitter is blowing up with reviews of the show. It’s not good.”

Mercedes looked over after putting the plates in the dishwasher. “What are they saying about it?”

Kurt looked at his phone. “MediaReviewer1 said “I’d rather watch grass grow than watch the absolute mess that was That’s So Rachel. What is happening to television?” Kurt grimaced at that review. “Another one just said, “Was that Comedy? Was that Satire? What the hell was it, I couldn’t tell.” She is really being slammed on social media. This isn’t good for her.”

Elliott pouted a bit. “It’s always a massive risk taking a step from theatre to Television. It can be hard to adapt to, Rachel bit off so much more than she could chew. How come she didn’t know that this could happen?”

Mercedes sat back down next to Elliott. “Because she is self centred and thinks she is perfect. She is so talented, she is amazing but she wants everything and anything she can get. That will be her downfall, and it has been. Her career is most likely over now.” Mercedes spoke with severe disdain for Rachel. Years of being put in the background in the Glee club didn’t help.

“Rachel should seriously look at you as an example, Mercedes. You’ve had setbacks. But you’ve persisted and pushed through it. You’ve sold albums, you don’t ever need to have a reason to look back on Lima. Ever.” Kurt spoke and smiled. “Now, I’m absolutely pooped from today, and I need all the sleep I can get for tomorrow. I need to wake up extra early and get ready as Isabelle has told us all to dress up much more for Anna Wintour’s visit.”

Mercedes and Elliot gave Kurt a hug and bid him goodnight. They settled down on the couch to watch a movie together. Kurt quickly changed into his pyjamas and settled in for the night.

……………..

Kurt stirred as his alarm went off. 4:30 am. Great, normally he could wake up at 6:30 and be there for 9. Instead, Isabelle wanted everybody in at 7am sharp to make final preparations. Anna Wintour would be at the office at 10am. Kurt got up and began his moisturising. He styled his hair into his regular style and put on his outfit. He put on his shirt and wrapped a scarf into a tie style shape. He put on his trousers, boots and belt. To add a final touch, he put on his hippo brooch that he wore to the Vogue interview. 6am. Perfect. Kurt quietly got out of the apartment and walked down to the Subway station. He boarded the train which took about 25 minutes to get to the stop closest to the Vogue offices. On the way there, he quickly stopped at a coffee shop and picked up a coffee for him and Isabelle. He knew she would need it. 6:45 am, 15 minutes early. Kurt walked into the Vogue office and was shocked by the sight that met his eyes. The office was in disarray with people rushing about to make everything perfect for Anna Wintour. She was apparently very picky about cleanliness. Kurt made his way through the rabble to Isabelle’s office. He knocked on the door and opened it. “Good Morning, Miss Wright.”

Isabelle looked up and smiled at Kurt. God he was a lifesaver. “Good Morning, Kurt! Great, you brought my coffee.” 

Kurt placed the coffee down on the desk and sat opposite her and took a sip of his own. “Big day for Vogue, right?”

Isabelle sighed. “It’s going to be a huge day, everything needs to go perfect. I can’t have anyone stepping out of line because I will be reprimanded. If everything goes wrong I’m finished.”

Kurt took her hand and squeezed it. “You’ll be fine, Isabelle. We will be fine. We are a team remember?”

Isabelle smiled and gave him a hug. “Thanks, Kurt. Okay, I need you to go and make sure that Miss Wintour has a town car waiting for her at JFK. Her flight lands at 9am.”

“No worries, Miss Wright.” Kurt took his own coffee and made his way out to his desk. He took a seat and phoned the car company. “Hello. Yes, this is Kurt Hummel from Vogue.com. I just wanted to double check that there will be a car waiting at JFK Airport for Miss Anna Wintour? Seriously, you are going to cancel the pick up? A bigger job? It’s not every day some car company gets to convey THE Anna Wintour to Vogue. Urgh forget it, I’ll get another company. All booked? Wonderful. Great. Thanks for nothing.” Kurt hung up the phone and let out an exasperated sigh.

Isabelle was walking out of her office. “Kurt, you look flustered. Are you okay?”

Kurt spoke with an aggravated tone. “The car company just cancelled the pick up for Miss Wintour. Apparently they are fully booked and every other one is the same. Some sort of event in Central Park.”

Isabelle squealed. “Don’t worry. We have the company car waiting downstairs. There will need to be someone from Vogue there to make sure she gets to the car quickly. You will have to go, Kurt. I don’t trust anyone else much right now.”

Kurt’s eyes widened. “Me? Go to chauffeur Anna Wintour?! No, I couldn’t possibly do it. There must be someone else.”

Isabelle crouched down and met his eyes. “Kurt. You have been a lifesaver here, I wouldn’t have begged for you to come back if you weren’t an absolute angel. You can do this. I’ll need to tell you some pointers on how to behave when with Miss Wintour. Come into my office. The car leaves at 7:20, so we have 15 minutes to get ready. We are leaving early just in case Miss Wintour’s flight lands.”

Isabelle led Kurt into her office and gestured for him to sit down. “Just some pointers when with Miss Wintour. You will need to call her by Miss Wintour at all times. She will be angry if you call her Anna. Do not speak to her unless she addresses you. You can greet her when you see her, but do not strike up a conversation. She likes to keep interactions with junior staff at a minimum. You will also sit in the back of the car with Miss Wintour, you must still stay silent. Please call me when you are on your way back from the airport.”

Kurt nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”

Isabelle smiled at him. “I know you can pull this off Kurt.” She stood up and gestured for Kurt to do the same. She smoothed down his outfit. “You may win over Anna Wintour. She hates to admit it, but she likes brooches.” Isabelle looked at her phone as a text came in. “The car is ready for you downstairs.” Isabelle pulled him into a hug. “Safe travels, Kurt. If you get stuck in traffic please text me immediately so I can forward it to Anna to let her know the car may be late.”

Kurt nodded and bid goodbye to Isabelle. He made his way downstairs to where the Vogue town car was waiting. He got in the car and began the 30 minute drive to JFK airport. The 30 minute drive actually took 45 minutes because of all the traffic going towards the Airport as well as the morning rush in Central Manhattan. Kurt quickly texted Isabelle to let her know he was at the Airport safe and sound. Kurt jumped a little when the driver, who remained silent throughout the journey actually spoke to him. 

“Miss Wintour’s flight has just landed. You need to go and wait in International Arrivals for her. Take this sign too.” The driver passed over a sign saying “VOGUE”. “Hold this up so that Miss Wintour knows you are from Vogue.”

Kurt took the sign and nodded. He made his way into International Arrivals. He looked up at the arrivals board to try and find the flight that Anna was on. Flight 587 from Paris. That must be the one. Kurt held up the sign and hoped that Anna Wintour would see him in the crowd. A short while later, he took the sign down as his arms were beginning to ache. He glanced up and saw the familiar bob and sunglasses that are Anna Wintour’s trademark. Kurt was starstruck, however he stayed Professional and waited for Anna to walk to him. 

She spoke to him with a firm tone. “You are from Vogue.com?”

Kurt smiled and responded. “Yes, Miss Wintour. Your car is just outside if you would like to follow me.”

Anna nodded and followed Kurt outside. Kurt felt a bit more at ease now that Anna was actually next to him. They both got into the car. Kurt held the door open for Anna so she could get in first. He took a seat next to her. The journey was a bit quicker as the traffic wasn’t as bad. During the journey, Kurt fired off a text to Isabelle to let them know they were on the way. As he looked out the window at the suburbs of Queens as they breezed past them he noticed in the corner of his eye that Anna Wintour was studying his outfit. He could’ve sworn he seen the slightest hint of a smile. 

Kurt exited the car first and held open the door for Anna to use. He walked next to Anna and waited for her to walk into the building before walking in behind her and following her upstairs. As she walked along to the office, people avoided her path and stayed well out of her sight.

Isabelle was waiting outside her office for Anna. “Good Morning, Miss Wintour. I see you have already met my summer assistant, Kurt Hummel. He has aspirations to work in theatre.”

Anna took off her sunglasses and addressed Kurt directly. “I quite like Musical Theatre myself. You seem to be a very talented young man, Mr Hummel. Isabelle has sung your praises to me over the phone.” Anna gave a slight smile to Kurt then turned to Isabelle and put her sunglasses back on. “Miss Wright, will you show me around the offices?”

Isabelle smiled at Kurt and turned back to Anna. “Of course, Miss Wintour. If you would like to follow me. Kurt, can you just do your regular thing? We will be back very soon.”

Kurt nodded to her and took a seat at his desk. He fired off a text to Mercedes and Elliott. It read as follows, “Omg THE Anna Wintour just complimented me. Need to work now, speak soon xx.” Kurt put his phone away and smiled.

…

Back at the apartment, Mercedes is talking to Elliott about why he hasn’t taken off in music yet. 

“You are such a good singer, Elliott. I really don’t understand why nobody has picked you up yet.” Mercedes spoke to him with a gentle tone with a single hand on his shoulder.

Elliot was deflated. “Couldn’t you try and pull some strings at the record label to see what could be done. I’ll take anything at this point.”

“I tried with Santana, but they absolutely won’t budge. They never do.” Mercedes wished she could do more to help Elliott, but it seems she can’t. “However, you need to get a job. We can’t keep covering you on rent.”

Elliott nodded. He knew he needed a job but he wasn’t sure where to go. That is, until Mercedes mentioned a place that was familiar to them all.

Mercedes remembered the place where Rachel and Santana used to work. Elliott would do amazing there. “What about the Spotlight Diner? You’d do really good there. Doesn’t your friend Dani still work there too, surely she could get you a job?”

Elliott would have kissed Mercedes. Ew yuck. “That’s perfect. I’ll go down there today and I’ll speak to Dani about getting me a job there.”

Mercedes spoke again. “Leave with me. I need to travel into the East Village to go and meet someone. You may as well come with me.” She put on her coat and walked outside.

Elliott quickly put on his coat and followed her. They parted ways as Mercedes went to the Subway station and Elliott began the walk to the Spotlight Diner.

…

Elliott took the short ride on the Subway to the station on Broadway. He got up and walked up the stairs and left the station. Broadway was always a wonderful place to be, no matter what time of day it was. It was still morning, so there were people making their way to work. On his way to the diner, he got pushed by some people rushing to work. Even getting cursed at and insulted too. God, Elliott loved New Yorkers. The diner was quiet, but it was open. He walked into the diner and made his way over to Dani.

…

“So you want the pancakes with maple syrup and extra bacon?” Dani spoke as she noted down the order of someone who always came in for their breakfast. “A decaffeinated coffee as well, yeah?” Dani knew the person's order off by heart. “Alright, I’ll get that to you as soon as I can.” She put the ticket on the rack and noticed Elliott coming into the diner. She calmly walked over to him. “Hey Elliot.”

“Dani! It’s so good to see you.” Elliot leaned against a podium. “I might get some breakfast, but I have a question for you.”

“Go ahead.” Dani put down her notepad and crossed her arms. 

“Well. I’m really struggling right now. I can’t get any record deals at all, even Mercedes says there is nothing she can do at her label as they just won’t budge. I need to pay my share of the rent as Sam, Kurt and Mercedes just can’t cover me. So I need a job here.”

Dani nodded as Elliott spoke. She was a bit annoyed that nobody would hire Elliott. Then again, Pamela Lansbury wasn’t much of a success thanks to the fighting that her ex Girlfriend and Rachel had over a part. Nobody hires a failure in this industry. “I could speak to Gunther and see if he has anything.” Dani looked around the room and signalled for him to come over.

Gunther walked over to them and sighed. “What is it, Dani. I don’t pay you to talk to your friend.”

“Yeah, yeah. My friend Elliott needs a job here, he can sing and is really good at it. Have you got anything going?” 

Gunther looked Elliott up and down. “Your in. You start tomorrow at 8am.”

Elliot nodded and thanked him as Gunther walked away. “That was surprisingly easy.”

“Gunther doesn’t care. Just as long as you can serve the food and milkshakes and sing a song, you’ll be fine.” She picked up her notepad to begin going back to work. “You want something to eat, Eli, Or is this a flying visit?”

“Yeah I’ll have a milkshake and some food.” Elliot smiled and walked over to a table before sitting down and ordering.

…

Kurt sat at his desk doing all the assistant things. He barely had time to talk to his colleagues because of the visit. Anna was still in the building and her visit was coming to a close. 

Isabelle popped out of the conference room and asked Kurt to come in as Anna wanted to speak to him in private.

“Me? Speak in private with Miss Wintour? “ Kurt’s tone was getting nervous as being in a room with Anna Wintour was one of his dreams. 

Isabelle then put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. “Kurt, you can do this. You’ve been an absolute star today. Just go in there and do what you do best.” Isabelle then shoved him gently into the room and closed the door.

Anna was sitting on a chair in the office. “Mr Hummel. Please have a seat.” She gestured to an empty seat in front of her which Kurt sat down in. Anna took out some folders and pictures of designs Kurt had made and drawn. She then spoke again. “Do you recognize these?”

Kurt nodded, Anna Wintour had his designs? It was probably Isabelle that gave her them. “Ye- yes. They are my own designs that I have drawn and made myself.”

Anna then took out some individual designs and laid them out on the desk. “Mr Hummel. Would you like to talk me through some of these designs. It isn’t often we have a young designer that is as talented as you are.” 

Kurt felt himself getting a bit flustered, Anna Wintour liked his designs. He was starstruck. “Of course, Miss Wintour.” Kurt regained composure and began telling Anna about the inspiration behind designs. It took him nearly an hour to get through them all and throughout his talking Anna was listening intently. You could see the cogs were turning in her head as she was clearly thinking about something. Kurt finished and let out a breath. “I know there was a lot to that. I really hope I didn’t say too much.”

Anna fixed her outfit and smiled slightly. “It was nice to listen to, Mr Hummel. I have a proposition for you. We are currently looking for our next fall range. I’d like to manufacture some of your designs for the fall range this season.” 

Wait, What?! Anna Wintour asked me personally if they could use my outfits for their fall range. This is everything Kurt has ever wanted. “Of course, Miss Wintour! Absolutely, it’ll be my honour.”

Anna smiled again. “Good. You will be paid for your designs, you can keep a copy for yourself. However, these will become official property of Vogue. You may also receive the physical outfits for your own personal use. Is that a deal?” Anna held out her hand which was perfectly manicured.

“Of course! It’s a deal.” He took her hand and shook it. Kurt was a bit skeptical about his designs becoming official Vogue property as they were memories of his time at McKinley. Then again, McKinley wasn’t the best time, so maybe it was good to part with the designs.

“You don’t need to worry about the paperwork and licensing and things. I’ll have my representatives sign off on it. Now all you really need to do is wait for the issue to be released. We might also include a biography on you, so tell me about you.” Anna took out a notepad and pen to begin writing. Kurt then began talking about his life and what he is doing now, including studying at NYADA and doing his junior year abroad.

“You are doing a year abroad in London?” Anna thought of something else again. “In fall, I tend to base myself at the London office throughout Fall and Winter. It would be nice if you dropped by for a visit when you are in London.”

“I certainly will. NYADA won’t let us go abroad if we don’t have a part time job to cover our bills. NYADA pay for the flight and rent the accommodation, but bills, food and things are all on us.”

Anna nodded. “When you come over, you can get a part time job at our London offices. I’ll personally recommend you for the position.”

“That would be amazing, Miss Wintour. Thank you.”

“You are very welcome, Mr Hummel. Now, I’m sorry to have to throw you out, but I have some business to do. It has been great to get to know you a bit more.” Anna gestured to him to leave the office so she could get on with some work.

Kurt walked out of the room with a smile on his face. Isabelle was sitting at his desk waiting for Kurt to get back into the office. She jumped up from her chair and ran over to him. “How did it go, Kurt? Judging that smile on your face obviously means it went extremely well.”

“She approved all of my designs. She wants to use the fall ones for the Vogue fall season.” Kurt spoke with an excited tone. He was beginning to make it. But he still had his education to think about, he can’t let anything hold him back from his junior year. “I do wonder how Miss Wintour suddenly got her manicured hands on those designs.” He then gave Isabelle a knowing smirk before getting ready to leave.

“Hmmm, I wonder.” She winked at Kurt and bid him goodbye before returning to her own office.

…

Kurt got back to the apartment a little after 7:30pm. He was tired after the busy day at Vogue, all he wanted to do was sleep. What made it worse is that the Subway was broken meaning he had to take a bus home. As he walked into the apartment he was taken aback by the sound of a cork being popped off a bottle of champagne, being held by Elliot. “SURPRISE!” 

Kurt took it all in, Mercedes, Elliott, Sam and Artie were all in the apartment looking ecstatic. “Wha- what's all this about?”

Mercedes gave him a hug before speaking again. “Isabelle told us that you got a really big break at Vogue and that Anna Wintour is using your designs.”

“Well done man!” Sam walked over to him and gave him a pat on the back. “You really do deserve it, especially after all that happened.”

Elliott tapped his glass. “If I may. I think we all owe Kurt our congratulations. He has everything going for him right now, so a toast to Kurt. If we ever think of giving up, think of Kurt. He hasn’t given up, even when things looked bleak. To Kurt!” Elliott then raised his glass with everyone else following suit.

“I really don’t know what to say guys. You’ve actually got me speechless for once. What did I do to deserve you guys?”

“Aww, Kurt.” Mercedes walked over to him and pulled him into a hug with everyone else joining in.

“I have had a very very long day. So I’m going to go to my bed now. Thank you so much for coming over and I really wish I could stay up for longer. Night everyone!”

Everyone said Goodnight to Kurt as he retired to his bed for the night. Tomorrow he had a meeting at NYADA about his course in London.

…

8am. Still early, but better than yesterday. Kurt got up and got ready before having some toast and leaving the house. He had to take a train to Upper Manhattan this time which took about half an hour. He entered the NYADA campus and made his way to the round room, where Carmen Tibideaux was standing in the centre. She had a clipboard in hand and was marking off names as people came in. Kurt took a seat in the front row and took off his jacket.

“Good Morning everyone. Thank you for being here promptly and on time. You are all here because you are doing your Junior or Senior year abroad through our exchange student programme. Some of you are going to London, some of you may go to Shanghai. There will be more meetings for students going to different destinations. This meeting is to iron out some rules and how you are to behave when overseas.”

“First off, you need to show good behaviour and conduct at all times. You are over there representing NYADA, you are the best of the best, show us that we made the right choice. This accounts when you are on the campus. Outside those times, you are free to behave how you are. But make sure you do not end up getting yourself arrested as that will be a one way ticket to never ever returning to NYADA…” Carmen continued running through all the essential things for a couple of hours. It was a drag to say the least. “That just about covers everything. If anyone has any questions then feel free to wait behind so I can clear everything up as much as I can. Otherwise, you are free to go. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

Kurt stood up from his chair and said Goodbye to Madame Tibideaux before walking towards the exits, his walk was interrupted by the voice of Cassandra July. “Kurt!”

“Yes, Miss July?”

“Madame Tibideaux tells me that you are going to London on the exchange student programme this year.”

“Yes, Miss July. I am indeed.”

“I was looking forward to having you back in my class this fall, Kurt. You are probably one of the better dancers that I’ve taught. Looks like I will need to find someone else to be my star dancer this year. Just don’t let NYADA down. I know you won’t.”

“You have my word, Miss July.”

“I know your friend let NYADA down big time… what was her name?”

“Her name is Rachel.”

“Schwimmer, that’s it! Last I heard she had a role in Funny Girl, but then her name was taken off the listings… Do you know what happened with that?”

“She took up an offer for a television show which failed. She has now gone back to Lima in complete shame.”

“That girl wasn’t ready. I won’t keep you any longer, Kurt. Break a leg in London, yeah?”

“I will, Miss July.”

Kurt bid farewell to Cassandra before walking out to the subway stop and taking the train back to the apartment in the Greenwich Village. It was one hell of an exhausting day. He was excited about what was to come in the future… but little did he know about what awaited him.


	2. Welcome Home!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt has a confrontation with some unfriendly faces and leaves New York to start his studies in London. However, a blast from the past awaits him in London... who could it be?

Kurt walked up the stairs to the front door and tried it to see if it was open. Through the door he could hear voices which sounded like Sams and somebody else's. He pushed the door open and what he saw next nearly made him pass out with sheer horror. It was Rachel, Blaine and Sam. 

“Sam, your back!” He went up to hug his friend. “How was your trip?”

“Dude, it was so cool. They made me model some suits and some underwear. They said my image could be on billboards across America!” Sam was evidently happy with how it went as he spoke his words with a smile.

Kurt turned to the other two in the room. “Rachel, I thought you went back to Lima? What brings you here to New York?”

“Well, I’m not actually here for me. I’m here for Blaine. Kurt, he has done nothing but gush about he wants you back and about how awful he was to you before. So really I’m here to play matchmaker.”

Kurt was taken aback. How dare Rachel take it upon herself to meddle in Kurt’s love life. Then again all she did was meddle. How dare Blaine for coming back when he knew fine well that he would never ever get back with Kurt.

“Kurt, I can’t help but think about how awful I really was to you. I want to start again. Please. I love you Kurt.” Blaine tried doing his typical puppy dog eyes to Kurt, but he was having none of it.

Mercedes walked into the apartment with Elliott in tow. She too was shocked to see Blaine and Rachel. They both took one look at Kurt and realized what was happening.

“Kurt, you okay?” Mercedes spoke with concern as she and Elliott put the shopping bags in the kitchen.

“I’ll be fine Mercedes.” He smiled at her and turned back to Blaine and Rachel. “Listen, here's the deal. Blaine, you know that I never ever want to get back with you. Never. Not in a million years. You were absolutely despicable to me after everyone moved out and it is something I will never forget. Everything was all about you, if you didn’t like it, it didn’t happen. I do not have time for people like you in my life.”

Kurt then turned to Rachel. “Rachel, how DARE you come back here and meddle in my own personal love life. When we lived here, everything was about you. Someone else could’ve had a big break, but it was always the Rachel Berry show. Remember what you did to Santana when she went for the role of Understudy? Yeah, you got all paranoid about how you thought Santana was trying to take away your big success, when all she wanted was a foot in the door. Now, I’d appreciate it if both of you left this apartment now.” Kurt folded his arms and Mercedes snapped her fingers in agreement.

Blaine and Rachel were shocked that this would come out of Kurt’s mouth.

“But, Kurt. It is our destiny that we are together, we can do such good things. You only don’t want me back because you are playing happy families with Elliott over there. How long since you two started dating, I knew you were sleeping with him behind my back.”

“Whoa, sweetie. I don’t know where you get that from, but me and Kurt are not dating. We are just roommates, even ask Mercedes and Sam.”

Blaine opened his mouth to speak but Mercedes held her hand up in the area. “Both of you, get out.”

Blaine was angry at Kurt for no real reason. “You’ll regret this. I don’t need you, Kurt.” Both of them walked out in a huff and slammed the door.

Kurt turned back to Sam. “Did you let them in?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, I did. But I didn’t know that that was their plan. I’m really sorry Kurt.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sam. You couldn’t have known.”

“You should probably text Carole or Burt and let them know what’s happened.” Mercedes spoke as she unpacked some of the shopping in the kitchen.

“Yeah, I definitely will. I’m so glad they weren’t here when those two showed up. Carole would’ve reamed them both.”

“I really hope they won’t bother you again. Even then, you're going to London. If they follow you to London then that's just wrong.”

Suddenly, Kurt’s phone decided to ring.

“Who’s ringing?”, asked Elliott.

“Oh it’s Carole. I should answer this.” Kurt answered the phone. “Hey Carole!”

“Hi sweetie! When are you flying out to London? Me and Burt are thinking of coming through to see you on your way.”

“That’d be great! I’m flying out in a couple of weeks time. You should definitely come through. It means you can meet Elliott too. I’ll text you the date I fly out! I just hope it isn’t on a day when Burt needs to go to Congress. I want the both of you there to see me off.”

“You know Burt wouldn’t go to the Congress meeting if it meant missing your departure. He cares about you much more than Congress.”

“I know he wouldn’t. I can’t wait for you two to come up. Sam has said that he will give up his room for you two to use. He’ll sleep on the couch. I said it was fine as I don’t want one of you on the couch and the other on a sleeping bag.”

“That’s sweet. Tell Sam we said thanks.”

“I will.”

“Look, we have to go. We promised Samantha and Hugh that we’d go over to theirs for some dinner. We’ll speak soon, Kurt.”

“Bye, Carole!”

Kurt hung up the phone and made his way over to the kitchen, hopping himself up on the counter while Sam started working on the dinner. They worked out a nice rota for making the dinner, today was Sam’s turn. The four of them had a good dynamic so that all the responsibilities would be shared. The same could go for their house! Their rooms each had their own personal flair. Elliott’s bedroom had all his Starchild things in it, Sam had some of his modelling portfolio on his walls, while Kurt had his own designs and memories on his wall. 

“So, Sam. Tell us about your trip, what was the modelling project this time?” Kurt spoke to Sam while munching on a carrot that was on the worktop.

“I was modelling the Autumn Versace range. They made me do my first ever runway show. It was intense, all the eyes on you and the cameras flashing. I haven’t got a copy of the photos yet, but if it’s good they’ll hire me again.”

“You deserve the work, Sam. You are a good model.”

Sam put some burgers and fries out onto a plate, with some vegetable burgers for Elliott. Everyone wandered over to the table and sat down to enjoy their dinner. After a few hours, everybody retired to bed.

**2 weeks later..**

Today was the day of Kurt’s trip to London. Burt and Carole had arrived a few days prior in order to spend some time with Kurt and see the city before he went over to London. Unfortunately, Sam had to go to a modelling job which meant he couldn’t see Kurt off at the airport. Everybody woke up at 7am, the flight was at 1pm. The morning was spent with Carole fussing over Kurt’s luggage and making sure he had a large breakfast in him as well as claiming that the airplane food wasn’t filling enough. 

At 10am, the taxi arrived to take everyone to JFK Airport. Last time Kurt was here it was to meet Anna Wintour, something he still couldn’t get over. After a 45 minute drive to the airport, he was surprised to see that Isabelle had also come to the airport to see him off. As soon as he got out of the taxi she ran over to him and pulled him into a hug. 

“Kurt, do you really have to go? I don’t think I can cope without my best assistant helping me keep on top of things.” Isabelle jokingly spoke to Kurt, but she was 100% sincere on him being the best assistant. “You better keep in touch with me, I expect you to call me at least once a week.”

“Don’t worry Isabelle, I will.” They hugged again before Kurt turned to his friends and family. Carole was wiping some tears away from her eyes. “Mom, you okay?”

“Of course I am honey. It’s just such a reality to see you going away abroad, I just wish Finn was here to spend this moment with us.”

“Don’t worry. Finn is here, he’s watching us and smiling.”

Burt wrapped his arm around Carole’s waist. “Remember kiddo, call us when you land, call us when you get to the accommodation and remember to call us every so often. If something goes wrong while over there, you call us. No ifs or buts.”

“I will, Dad.” 

Kurt looked at his watch and noticed that it was nearly time to go and check in. “That’s me, I don’t want to miss check in.”

Mercedes, Elliott, Isabelle, Burt and Carole all pulled Kurt into a group hug before waving him off. Kurt walked into the expansive departures hall at JFK airport, making a beeline for the British Airways counter. The queue was rather short, but as he waited he noticed more and more people piling in behind him. Once it was his turn he walked up to the counter and spoke to the rather smiley lady behind the desk.

“Checking in, sir?”

“I am, my name is Kurt Hummel. My flight is the one o’clock to London.”

After a few moments of her typing rapidly on the computer, she pulled up his details. “Oh goodie, I’ve got you down here. Can I see your passport please?” Once Kurt had handed the passport to the lady and she had verified it, she printed out his boarding pass. “That will be gate 33B, we board at 12:15. Have a safe flight, sir!”

Kurt walked through the security check. He still had about an hour until the flight was boarding. He was full from the breakfast that Carole insisted he eat before they left, so he didn’t feel like lunch. Instead he decided to peruse the various duty free shops, selling some extremely overpriced goods. Kurt wondered how these places always make a sale, considering the prices they sell fragrances at. After about an hour of browsing the shops and freshening up, he made his way to Gate 33B, just in time as when he got there an announcement rang out. “British Airways 1517 to London is now boarding at Gate 33B.” Kurt handed his boarding pass to the very same lady that checked him in. While she verified everything, he looked to see how many people were waiting. Full flight it seems. 

Kurt thanked her and walked down the boarding gate, saying hello to the stewardess on the door and finding his seat in Economy at the back of the plane. Madame Tibideaux had asked what seat preferences everybody had, Kurt got his preferred seat at the window. He stowed his bag in the plane’s overhead bin before sitting down and buckling his seatbelt. An elderly lady sat in the seat next to him and complimented his brooch, the aisle seat remained empty. The lady decided to move to the aisle seat so they would both have a good amount of space to stretch out. 

After about 45 minutes, the plane moved back from the gate and taxied to the runway. Kurt didn’t have any fears about flying, but the take off always made him nervous. It’s the point of no return. The plane revved up and took off, curving over the skyline of Manhattan below. Kurt sighed wistfully at the sight of it, there goes his home. Not to be seen until Christmas. Kurt reclined his seat slightly and settled in for the 9 hour flight to London. He was woken a few times during his nap for the meal service, which wasn’t very nice really. He couldn’t nod off after the meal, so he perused the selection of films that they had. He settled on Love Actually and Pretty Woman which killed a good 4 hours.

3 hours later, the seatbelt signs came on and the Captain announced that they were descending into London. Kurt looked out of his window and saw the City of London below. The Thames, Big Ben, London Eye, all these world famous landmarks below. Reality was beginning to settle in that this was going to be his home.

The plane landed at Heathrow Airport and Kurt disembarked, collected his luggage and went to arrivals to find the representative from the University. Kurt looked out to see a rather young lady holding up a sign that said “NYADA” on it. Kurt made his way over to her and she greeted him with a rather large smile. 

“Hello! Welcome to London, my name is Professor Katie Hardy and I will be your representative

while you stay here in London! You must be Kurt Hummel?”

Kurt nodded and smiled.

“I knew it was you! Madame Tibi… Madame Tibi… something, passed on a picture of you. She says you have quite an eye for fashion. I can’t wait to get to know you while you stay here in London.”

After a few more minutes of talking, the rest of the group showed up to collect their accommodation key and directions.

“Okay everyone! Here are your maps and your accommodation keys, it’s fine if you lose the map, but pretty please don’t lose the key. It makes it a massive headache for us all if you lose the key. Since you are all adults, I’m not going to travel with you to make sure that you get to the accommodation safe-” She cut herself off as she remembered something. “Oh yes! I need to give you a thing.” She took out her phone and instructed everyone to do the same. “This is my phone number, please input it into your phones and text me once you get to the accommodation. My number can also be found on your maps in case you forget a digit.” She read out the number and put her phone away. “Anyway, as this isn’t a school trip I’m not going to make you get into pairs and hold hands, but instead it’ll be up to you to make sure you get to the accommodation safely. NYADA should’ve given you out a package which includes an Oyster card with £50 credit on it, as well as the amount you need to pay for bills and things. If anyone has any questions at all, please just text me. Safe travels everyone!” 

Katie smiled at them and skipped off to greet another group of foreign exchange students. Kurt took a look at his map and realized that he had to take three London Underground lines to get to his accommodation. He knew that once he got there he was going to nap then unpack. What he wasn’t expecting to see is a note saying he would have a roommate who studies at NYU. Madame Tibideaux did warn them that they were short of accommodation this year and that they may be sharing with a stranger.

After over an hour of travelling on the Underground, he finally made it to his accommodation. It was very late at night and Kurt was jet lagged. He unlocked the door and walked into the house. It was spacious and very nice, it was a semi detached house that was rented out for them in the Borough of Woolwich.

Kurt called out to see if anyone was in the house. He heard someone walking down the stairs and the face he saw next was someone he wasn’t expecting… not in a million years.

“Ch- Chandler?! You are on the exchange programme too?” 

“Kurt! Oh my gosh, this is brilliant!” He ran over to Kurt and pulled him into a tight hug. Chandler didn’t have his glasses and beanie on, but his hyper nature made him recognisable. “This is amazing! It’s been so long since I’ve last spoken to you.”

“Likewise! I’m sorry about cutting you off so sharply, somebody got annoyed over our texts which meant I had to stop talking to you.” This was a fresh start for Kurt, so he wanted to keep Blaine out of it all.

“Oh no worries! I forgot the reasoning behind it anyway. You.. haven’t changed a bit.”

Kurt felt a blush creep over his face.

“Same to you, Chandler. Look, I don’t mean to be abrupt, but I’m really tired after all that travelling. I’m going to go get a sleep and I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Yeah! Sounds great, I’ll see you in the morning Kurt!” Chandler bounced away into the kitchen to go and make himself a coffee while Kurt retreated upstairs to his room. Without a second glance he flopped into the bed and went to sleep. Kurt couldn’t wait to start his new life here in London, especially with a friend that he hadn’t seen in years. Everything could only get better from this point onwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, woo!
> 
> I'm not quite sure when the next chapter will be released as I only really write when I feel like it, my studies have just restarted so there might be a bit more of a gap! Remember to leave feedback as I will take it into account. Your Kudos also gives me motivation to write more, so if you liked it, leave some!
> 
> Stay safe and happy reading everyone! xx


	3. A little update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick update.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well in these strange and troubling times.

I haven't updated since October, and I'm going to be honest. I no longer have much motivation to write Glee based fanfictions anymore. I will still aim to get Chapter 3 out to you all at some point before the Spring, but this isn't a guarantee.

Whenever I do write this fic, it's maybe only a few lines or paragraphs at a time.

You will love Chapter 3 when it comes, and I promise that it is worth the wait.

Stay safe everyone!

\- Nate


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